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Seahawks hold on for huge win

This was supposed to be a gimme for the visiting team. A 2-6 Seattle team, reeling, with no real shot at winning the NFC West, welcoming a 6-2 Baltimore squad coming off a huge win at Pittsburgh.

You knew the resumes. In the end, it didn't matter.

Behind a huge day from running back Marshawn Lynch and three turnovers from the Ravens, the Seahawks picked up a big win at home, upsetting the Ravens, 22-17. Lynch had 109 yards on the ground and added five catches for 58 yards in the victory.

For the Ravens, it's deja vu once again. One week after earning a huge win, this time a road win against hated Pittsburgh, the Ravens were set to face a team that, on paper, was vastly inferior. Yet once again it's the Ravens who walk away losers and the "inferior" team that gets to celebrate.

The opening half saw the Ravens commit plenty of mistakes, mostly on special teams. Kick returner David Reed fumbled two kickoffs, while kicker Billy Cundiff missed a pair of field goals. Seattle's offense, meanwhile, put together some nice drives, but had to settle for field goals nearly every time to take a 19-7 halftime lead.

Then, it appeared the Seahawks were crashing back to reality. Baltimore's offense starting gaining momentum, thanks to short passes from Flacco to Ray Rice. Flacco finished with 29 completions for 255 yards and had one touchdown pass, which occurred in the fourth quarter to tight end Ed Dickson. At the time, the Ravens had closed the gap to just five points with enough time to mount a potentially game-winning drive.

But as he's done before, Lynch took the game over and made sure the Ravens wouldn't have a chance to snatch the win away from the home team. On the team's final drive, Lynch put the offense on his shoulders, torching a Ravens defense which entered Sunday at the top of the league in nearly every defensive category. Lynch's ground game was enough to give the Seahawks just their third win of the season and push their record to 3-6.

Despite the win, penalties are still a concern for the Seahawks. They entered today second to last in the league in terms of number of penalties and didn't help their cause against the Ravens. Seattle committed 13 penalties for 100 yards in the win, most which came late in the game, which allowed the Ravens to stick around longer than they would've liked.